Park Life

Feels a little strange in July to be referencing ‘Fear of the Dark’, Iron Maiden’s heavy metal classic from 1992, but there is a tenuous link in here somewhere, so bear with…

If you’re a resident of Easingwold, have you ever thought how fortunate you are to have such a fantastic public open space on your doorstep? Millfields is wonderful and the envy of many surrounding towns. Skate Park, expansive space for dog walking, wetland nature reserve, mature woodland walks, playground, bike skills trail, jogging/walking track and soon to be, lighting around the track to increase all year-round accessibility to anyone who wishes to use it.

So, for those of you who are not aware of opening lines to ‘Fear of the Dark’… I am a man who walks alone and when I'm walking a dark road, at night or strolling through the park. When the light begins to change I sometimes feel a little strange, a little anxious when it's dark. Fear of the dark, fear of the dark.

Well fear not and be anxious no more, as this winter, you’ll be able to see where you’re going! Anyone would think I’d recently been to see Maiden on their latest world tour. The lighting project as you may have seen is well underway and will be a fantastic new addition. I apologise in advance, as there’s another link to Maiden later on.

Continuing on the theme of the park, Easingwold Running Club is certainly no stranger to it these days. In recent times, the club has utilised the open space to hold specific sessions for all who come along. To give you a flavour of how ERC has used the park in recent months, take a deep breath…

Progression running – gradual increase in speed over 5k.

Interval training – utilising the ‘soon to be lit’ track 400m at pace with a 100m walk recovery, then go again!

5k tempo – running ‘comfortably hard’ for a sustained period.

Beat the clock – leave the park on a set 6.5k route and return by a set time in the evening – no tech allowed, so running on feel – closest to the agreed finish time wins a prize. Well done Alwyn Craven!

Relay night – teams of 3, 7 laps of the Parkrun loop in reverse (before you ask, no, not running backwards) – first team back in, guess what, more prizes! Taking gold were Cheryl McBroom, Jack Duffield and Steve Loseby.

Zone 2 training run – all about your heartbeat – building up aerobic fitness which can be transferred to improvements in speed and endurance.

Tired? I know I am! All of the above started, finished or took place completely within Millfields. Thanks to all our fantastic coaches, run leaders and helpers for making this happen. A bit of a side note, if you happen to be in the park and see many folk re-enacting John Cleese and Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks, that will be ERC club members limbering up, pre-training session!

Fancy a piece of this? Visit www.easingwoldrunningclub.co.uk or come along on a Thursday evening to The Galtres Centre to see how it all works.

ERC club members continue to do battle away from the town as well. Naming just a few, York and District Road Race League events in Bugthorpe (hilly) and Wistow (flat as a pancake) and the Ilkley half-marathon (a very, very warm affair). Some folk have challenged themselves further afield as well, anyone fancy the famous 23km du Mont Blanc in France? Just the 1,700m of elevation along the route! Great work Sam Davies!

To finish off and as mentioned earlier on, in the build up to the Iron Maiden gig in London, I met up with Easingwold resident Pete Jacobson, a true Maiden-ite! Pete can be seen early on many a Saturday prepping for Millfield Parkrun, setting up the course and making sure that everything is in place for people to safely enjoy their weekly dose of community exercise. In recent weeks, Pete celebrated his 100 th volunteering milestone. Without Pete and the numerous others who make Parkrun possible in Easingwold, it simply would not exist for the 200 plus folk who take part each week. Thanks Pete and all other volunteers for your dedication. 9am every Saturday, just in case you’ve missed, well, probably most of my other write-ups!

Next time, we’ll be hearing from one our newest members to the ERC running community, John Doyle. Find out what’s it’s really like to join the club and I’m wondering, is he going to admit to leaving the starting block on ‘get set’ at a recent ERC event? Join us next time to find out!

Until then, enjoy your summer and if you’re not using what’s on offer in your local park, what are you waiting for?

Rich Freeman, Publicity Secretary